Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - Love and Other Words

Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren

8 reviews

kaitlynk_thatpageturninglife's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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jasmine1911's review against another edition

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emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I liked the first half of the book. I like watching their friendship build up to what it was and also reading about what they meant to each other however we didn’t learn much about Elliot, which I know is emphasised in the past but even in the future we don’t get much substance from him. I was hoping for more insight on him as a person rather than an extension in a sense of Macy. Some things that did bother me in the past were that

Macy’s aversion to becoming a couple didn’t make much sense to me as they had already crossed a line which they couldn’t go back from such as kissing, basically having sex etc. I also hated how she would badmouth and slut shame any girl that was involved with Elliot however I was willing to give her some grace as she was younger and you see her grow out of this when she gets older.

The point where the book started to fully make a turn for the worse was the ending where we learn why they haven’t spoken in a decade. There was a lot of foreshadowing to what had happened however I think it could have been dealt with better

He gets raped by one of his closest friends but it’s framed more as cheating, which is glossed over and not looked into at all. Some therapy on his end could have helped him deal with the situation and maybe come to terms with it. Furthermore even though it is framed as cheating the author does not seem to care about the fact that he cheated and the one thing that was emphasised was that they love each other, or at least how much he loves her, which is not really sufficient enough for a relationship to succeed etc.

The book had potential if it explored certain things in more depth and truly improved manner.

Better recommendation with similar vibes and similarish MC’s and better writing: People We Meet On Vacation by Emily Henry

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danajoy's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

I LOVED the first two thirds of this novel. The two timelines, then and now, watching Macy and Elliot fall in love and come back together. They are so clearly drawn to eachother. I loved how all in he was.

I still enjoyed the rest but I personally don't like

when characters have PIV sex for the first time without a condom. Especially when these characters are teenagers. Yes she was on the pill. Would it have been so hard to have him carry one around just in case? Or for her to have some hidden somewhere? It hindered my enjoyment. Especially when they did it again in the present day storyline. Where was the conversation about it?
I also find his explanation of what happened 11 years ago to be odd and very unsettling. Seems like he was raped and yet it gets glossed over. The revelation about it is quickly followed by her dad's death and we dont return to it other than for Macy to say she isn' mad about it.

This is angsty, full of pining and gets sad.

I found all the fascination with his zipper repetitive. It felt weird getting graphic sex scenes when they were 17.

It was annoying that they didnt communicate better as adults. I get that she's a busy paediatric resident at a hospital but surely they could've discussed the things that have kept them apart so long earlier. Especially somewhere that isn't his brother's wedding where there is both a potential audience and alcohol. But *drama*.

Overall I still really liked this book. It could've been a 5 star so I do leave it feeling a little disappointed.

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serendipity421's review against another edition

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fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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hannalizzy's review

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emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I loved this book. The romance was so wholesome and pure and I loved watching their friendship evolve as they grew up together. It felt really authentic to each age when it was a reflection chapter, it reminded me so much of my own firsts.

I would defo categorize this one as a slow burn because it took foreverrrrr for them to finally admit feelings. Best friends to lovers. Second chance romance.

I felt like

Macy breaking up with Sean was really anticlimactic. It felt too easy and not relatable. I also felt like Elliot gaslit Macy about Emma the whole time and he never really acknowledged or apologized for that. That’s my reason why I couldn’t give it five stars. And sometimes their arguments just circled back around and they repeated things unnecessarily.

Other than that, this book was so incredibly cozy and cute. I loved the focus on family and holidays (I’m totally gonna reread this one around Christmas and Thanksgiving in the coming years) and the romance was adorable. Elliot is swoonworthy.

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